Jam - Dessert, Filling And Preserve

Apparently, there is no housewife who would never cook jam . This product is a favorite winter product , natural, tasty and quite simple to prepare.

In addition, jam is universal. It can be eaten alone, with tea and bread, and also be used in the preparation of other desserts and pastries.

Also, jam is appreciated for being a way of long-term storage of seasonal fruits and berries, since during the preparation process the fruits are preserved with sugar and undergo heat treatment.

The essence of jam

As the name suggests, jam is boiled berries and fruits . Sometimes some vegetables. In most cases, jam is cooked with sugar, often with shock doses. There are several forms and varieties of jam , which differ in their consistency and method of preparation.

Types of jam

• Ordinary jam is simply berries, fruits or their pieces cooked in syrup , which retain their shape.

• Jam is the same, but slightly overcooked, as a result of which the pieces of fruit are boiled and lose their shape.

• Jam is boiled minced meat from fruits . It has the most homogeneous consistency and is suitable for children of the youngest age (by consistency).

• Compote is also essentially jam , but with more water to be consumed as a drink. The same category includes fruits that have undergone only boiling and sterilization - for example, canned peaches or pineapples. The essence of cooking is identical.

• Marmalade is the opposite of compote. Fruit cooked with too much sugar and too little water. Too thick jam , so to speak. Thickeners are often added to this dessert to maintain consistency.

• Jelly. It is more a kind of dessert than jam in the traditional sense, but it is prepared similarly and can also be stored for a long time. Gelatin or other thickeners are added to the composition of jelly, as a result of which the dessert becomes thick.

At the same time, the boundaries between these types of jam very often disappear and are not of great importance in everyday life. One hostess prepares a thinner jam , and the other - almost marmalade. Someone carefully removes the stones from each cherry, and someone is convinced that the stones give jam a specific aroma. And even in the industry there is no single standard. However, this is also a benefit - the consumer can easily choose a type of product that he likes.

Jam properties

Jam is a rich source of carbohydrates and fiber. Our body needs the first to produce energy. The calorie content of jam is very high. Fiber is a necessary component of food that activates the motility of the digestive tract.

In addition, many vitamins and minerals of the fruits themselves are preserved in jam . Although vitamins are the most vulnerable component in this regard, after cooking, only the most stable ones remain in the finished product . In principle, the composition of the jam is quite similar to the original product .

But it should not be forgotten that if fruits themselves are rich in sugars, then jam is something like a sugar concentrate. The concentration of sugar in jam can reach 60%, which is not very useful for our body.

Although, if you do not abuse this product , the value of the jam is still justified by its preservation properties.